Jugular venous congestion during off-pump lung transplantation is not associated with an increased risk of postoperative delirium.

INTRODUCTION: Delirium occurs frequently after lung transplantation and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Significantly prolonged jugular venous congestion (JVC) occurs during off-pump lung transplantation and is thought to impair cerebral perfusion. Our study aimed to test the hypothesis that increased intraoperative JVC is associated with an increased risk of postoperative delirium among lung transplantation recipients. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational cohort study. Adult patients who received off-pump lung transplantation at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 2006 and 2016 are included. The magnitude of JVC was calculated by the area under the curve (AUC) of the central venous pressure (CVP) above the threshold of 12 mmHg. Postoperative delirium was assessed by Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) criteria during their ICU stay. Multivariate regression analysis was used to determine the association of intraoperative JVC with postoperative delirium, adjusting for baseline demographics, surgical, and intraoperative characteristics. RESULTS: Thirty-two (23.5%) out of 136 patients developed delirium in the ICU. There was no statistical difference in terms of intraoperative JVC between patients with delirium and those without (4058 ± 6650 vs. 3495 ± 10 151 mmHg min; p = .772). Furthermore, during multivariate regression analysis, JVC was not associated with an increased risk of delirium (odds ratio: 1.03 per 100 mmHg min increase in venous congestion; 95% confidence interval: .31, 3.39; p = .96). CONCLUSIONS: Delirium occurred frequently after off-pump lung transplantation. Although physiologically plausible, the present study did not find an association between increased JVC during off-pump lung transplantation and an increased risk of postoperative delirium.

Incidence and Predictive Factors of Acute Kidney Injury After Off-pump Lung Transplantation.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence and predictive factors of acute kidney injury (AKI) after off-pump lung transplantation. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The operating room and intensive care unit. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients who underwent lung transplant without cardiopulmonary bypass or extracorporeal membrane oxygenator between 2006 and 2016 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The presence of postoperative AKI was assessed by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria in the first seven postoperative days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent predictive factors of AKI. One hundred forty-eight patients were included in the final analysis, of whom 63 (42.6%) subsequently developed AKI: 43 (29.0%) stage 1, ten (6.8%) stage 2, and ten (6.8%) stage 3. Patients who had AKI had a longer hospital length of stay (12 days [interquartile range (IQR): 10-17] vs ten days [IQR: 8-12], p < 0.001). For every one-year increase in age, the odds of AKI decreased by 8% (odds ratio [OR] 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-0.98, p = 0.008). The odds of having AKI in patients with bilateral lung transplant was lower than patients with unilateral transplant (OR 0.09, 95% CI: 0.01-0.63, p = 0.015). Additionally, a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease increased the odds of AKI by four-fold compared with a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (OR 4.73, 95% CI: 1.44-15.56, p = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: AKI is a common complication after off-pump lung transplantation and is associated with increased hospital length of stay. Younger age, unilateral lung transplant, and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are independently associated with AKI.

Traumatic respiratory failure and veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory failure (RF) is a common cause of death and morbid complication in trauma patients. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasingly used in adults with RF refractory to invasive mechanical ventilation. However, use of ECMO remains limited for this patient population as they often have contraindications for anticoagulation. STUDY DESIGN: Medical records were retroactively searched for all adult patients who were admitted to the trauma service and received veno-venous ECMO (VV ECMO) support between June 2015 and August 2018. Survival to discharge and ECMO-related complications were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Fifteen patients from a large Level I trauma center met the criteria. The median PaO2/FiO2 ratio was 53.0 (IQR, 27.0-76.0), median injury severity score was 34.0 (IQR, 27.0-43.0), and the median duration of ECMO support was 11 days (IQR, 7.5-20.0). For this cohort, the survival-to-discharge rate was 87% (13/15). The incidence of neurologic complications was 13%, and deep vein thrombosis was reported in two cases (13%). CONCLUSIONS: Survival rates of trauma patients in this study are equivalent to, or may exceed, those of non-trauma patients who receive ECMO support for other types of RF. With the employment of a multidisciplinary team assessment and proper patient selection, early cannulation, traumatic RF may be safely supported with VV ECMO in experienced centers.

A Novel QKD Approach to Enhance IIOT Privacy and Computational Knacks.

The industry-based internet of things (IIoT) describes how IIoT devices enhance and extend their capabilities for production amenities, security, and efficacy. IIoT establishes an enterprise-to-enterprise setup that means industries have several factories and manufacturing units that are dependent on other sectors for their services and products. In this context, individual industries need to share their information with other external sectors in a shared environment which may not be secure. The capability to examine and inspect such large-scale information and perform analytical protection over the large volumes of personal and organizational information demands authentication and confidentiality so that the total data are not endangered after illegal access by hackers and other unauthorized persons. In parallel, these large volumes of confidential industrial data need to be processed within reasonable time for effective deliverables. Currently, there are many mathematical-based symmetric and asymmetric key cryptographic approaches and identity- and attribute-based public key cryptographic approaches that exist to address the abovementioned concerns and limitations such as computational overheads and taking more time for crucial generation as part of the encipherment and decipherment process for large-scale data privacy and security. In addition, the required key for the encipherment and decipherment process may be generated by a third party which may be compromised and lead to man-in-the-middle attacks, brute force attacks, etc. In parallel, there are some other quantum key distribution approaches available to produce keys for the encipherment and decipherment process without the need for a third party. However, there are still some attacks such as photon number splitting attacks and faked state attacks that may be possible with these existing QKD approaches. The primary motivation of our work is to address and avoid such abovementioned existing problems with better and optimal computational overhead for key generation, encipherment, and the decipherment process compared to the existing conventional models. To overcome the existing problems, we proposed a novel dynamic quantum key distribution (QKD) algorithm for critical public infrastructure, which will secure all cyber-physical systems as part of IIoT. In this paper, we used novel multi-state qubit representation to support enhanced dynamic, chaotic quantum key generation with high efficiency and low computational overhead. Our proposed QKD algorithm can create a chaotic set of qubits that act as a part of session-wise dynamic keys used to encipher the IIoT-based large scales of information for secure communication and distribution of sensitive information.

Transcatheter and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement Outcomes for Patients with Chronic Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVES: To determine in-hospital outcomes and assess high-risk groups among chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from January 2012 to September 2015 was performed. SETTING: Hospitals across the United States that offer TAVRs or SAVRs. PARTICIPANTS: Adults with a diagnosis of CHF and AS. INTERVENTIONS: The patients underwent either TAVR or SAVR. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Totals of 5,871 and 4,008 CHF patients underwent TAVR and SAVR, respectively. TAVR patients were significantly older, more were female, and had a higher comorbidity burden. No significant differences in in-hospital mortality were noted between TAVR and SAVR. However, mean length of stay was significantly longer by 3.5 days in the SAVR group, as was the mean total cost. With the exception of complete heart block, permanent pacemaker implantation, and vascular complications, the majority of postoperative events were higher among the SAVR group. Multivariate regression analysis identified postoperative cardiac, respiratory and renal complications as significant predictors of in-hospital mortality for both groups. Additionally, age ≥75 years and vascular complications were significant predictors of mortality for patients undergoing TAVR. CONCLUSIONS: Among CHF patients with symptomatic AS, TAVR had similar in-hospital mortality rate compared with SAVR despite higher comorbidity burden. TAVR patients are at a lower risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal complications and might lead to reduced length of hospital stay and cost. Hence, TAVR may be a safer option in this population.

Tracheostomy while on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Comparison of Percutaneous and Open Procedures.

Although the ideal timing of tracheostomy for critically ill patients is controversial, transitioning from an endotracheal tube can be beneficial. Concerns arise for patients under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Studies have described percutaneous and open tracheostomy approaches for critically ill patients but, to our knowledge, have not compared the two specifically in ECMO patients. This study analyzed safety and aimed to identify if there was a difference in major bleeding or other tracheostomy-associated complications. A single-center retrospective cohort study of all patients who received tracheostomy while on ECMO from July 2013 to May 2019 was completed. The primary endpoint was a significant difference in the incidence of a major bleeding adverse event at 48 hours. Secondary endpoints included differences in the incidence of complications (e.g., procedure-related mortality, ECMO decannulation, tracheal/esophageal injury, and pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum) and survival to discharge. A secondary analysis separated the groups further by comparing those with bleeding events and those without. The study included 27 ECMO patients: 16 (59%) in the percutaneous arm and 11 in the open arm. The median number of ECMO days before tracheostomy was 10 vs. 13, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for major bleeding events (percutaneous 44% vs. open 27%, p = .45), procedure-related mortality, or procedure-related complications. Both percutaneous and open tracheostomies in patients on ECMO require a multidisciplinary approach to minimize adverse effects. Major bleeding does occur, but there was no statistically significant correlation between bleeding events and the type of the tracheostomy approach. Thus, both open and percutaneous tracheostomy approaches have a favorable safety profile.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Utility in Postpartum Patients.

Although extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used in many different populations, its use in pregnant or postpartum patients has not been widely studied. This article reviews the ECMO experience in this population at a large urban hospital. Electronic medical records for all pregnant or postpartum patients who required ECMO between 2012 and 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Data on clinical characteristics, outcomes, and complications were gathered. Comparisons between survivors and nonsurvivors were completed. Ten postpartum patients were identified. The patients presented as follows: four with cardiac arrest, one with a massive pulmonary embolism, three with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), one with combined ARDS and cardiogenic shock, and one with suspected amniotic embolism. Survival to decannulation was 70%, and survival to discharge was 60%. When comparing survivors vs. nonsurvivors, ECMO survivors tended to have shorter support times vs. nonsurvivors. Otherwise, no differences were noted in age, mechanical ventilation time, or length of stay. Disseminated intravascular coagulation was a common phenomenon in this patient cohort. After initiation of ECMO, elevated serum lactate levels, lower systolic blood pressure, and acute renal failure were predictors of mortality. In a single institution at a large metroplex, we present data regarding the use of ECMO in postpartum patients. ECMO can be successfully used in selected postpartum patients with severe cardiac or respiratory dysfunction. Multidisciplinary collaboration on a regular basis will streamline the ECMO referral in a timely manner. Furthermore, larger studies are indicated to understand the utility of ECMO in larger cohorts.

The Effect of Membrane Coverage on the Resorption of Autogenous Intraoral Block Grafts in Horizontal Ridge Augmentation: A Systematic Review of Literature and Meta-Analysis: Inevitability or an Iatrogenic Vulnerability?

BACKGROUND: Autogenous intraoral block grafting is the gold standard augmentation technique for moderate-to-severe horizontal ridge deficiency. However, the graft undergoes variable resorption during healing that might jeopardize the outcome of the procedure. Several studies hypothesized that covering the graft with a membrane decreases the amount of graft resorption, but this effect is not established in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess the clinical value of covering intraoral block grafts with membranes in horizontal ridge augmentation regarding graft resorption (primary outcome), graft success, net bone gain, and complications (secondary outcomes). DATA SOURCES: Till August 2017, the review team conducted an electronic search including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and LILACS databases; we also identified other articles through hand searching. The search terms included alveolar ridge augmentation, bone transplantation, block graft, guided bone regeneration, membranes, resorbable membrane, and nonresorbable membrane. STUDY SELECTION: The review included human randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies in English that compared membrane coverage to no membrane coverage of autogenous intraoral block grafts and reported the amount of graft resorption after > 3-month follow-up. STUDY APPRAISAL: Two authors independently assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and the third reviewer was the judge in case of conflict. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently filled the effective practice and organization of care form for data extraction, and the third reviewer revised the data. DATA SYNTHESIS: The statistical method of choice was the generic inverse variance, and the results were pooled using random-effect models, with the effect size measure being mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes and risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes. RESULTS: The review members screened 2266 records; we excluded 2231 records by the title and abstract and screened 35 full-text records for eligibility, from which we excluded 32 articles for certain reasons (the most common were a different comparison and excluded study design). Three randomized controlled trials were included in the quantitative and qualitative analyses of this review, providing the data for 41 participants with 49 sites. Data analysis showed a statistically significant potential benefit of membrane coverage in decreasing the amount of graft resorption of intraoral block grafts (MD: -1.20 mm, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.11 to -0.30, P = .009). There was no statistically significant benefit from the use of membranes regarding graft success (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.89-1.17, P = .79) and net bone gain (MD: 0.46, 95% CI: -0.16 to 1.09, P = .15). The use of membranes did not show a statistically significant increase in the incidence of complications (RR: 1.80, 95% CI: 0.55-5.96, P = .33). The reviewers judged all the studies as of fair quality regarding the risk of bias. CONCLUSION: The use of membranes decreased the graft resorption, but there was no difference regarding graft success and net bone gain. The use of membranes did not increase complications. Furthermore, properly conducted studies should be used to justify the adjunctive use of barrier membranes with block grafts.

Gastrointestinal Complications After Cardiac Surgery: A Nationwide Population-Based Analysis of Morbidity and Mortality Predictors.

OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of gastrointestinal (GI) complications in cardiac and aortic surgery using recent versions of the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) to provide clinicians with a better understanding of these uncommon but potentially serious complications. DESIGN: Population-based study. SETTING: NIS database 2010-2012. PARTICIPANTS: Patients undergoing cardiac and aortic aneurysm repair surgeries. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The most common GI complication was postoperative ileus, which also had the lowest mortality, followed by GI hemorrhage. Mesenteric ischemia demonstrated the highest mortality, followed by intestinal perforation. Mortality was highest in those with infective endocarditis (16.02%), followed by myocardial infarction (12.48%). GI complications were highest in patients undergoing repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, followed by off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study demonstrated that GI complications after cardiac surgery occurred at a rate of 4.17%, which is similar to that reported in the NIS database from 1998 to 2002 in coronary artery bypass grafting patients, but higher than that previously described in single-center studies. GI complications after cardiac surgery increased inpatient mortality 3-fold and more than doubled length of stay. Improved recognition and understanding of the predisposing risk factors and complications elucidated in this study could serve to increase the necessity for timely diagnosis and treatment of patients at high risk for GI complications after cardiac surgery.

Incidence and Outcomes of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia in Patients Undergoing Vascular Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from years 2010 through 2012 was utilized to determine the incidence, predictive risk factors, and outcomes of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in patients undergoing vascular surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective population-based study. SETTING: Data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) (2011 through 2013) using specific International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) procedure codes corresponding with vascular surgery. PARTICIPANTS: 425,379 hospital admissions in patients which underwent vascular surgery. Among these, 1,290 (0.31%) were diagnosed with HIT, and 17,765 (4.18%) were diagnosed with secondary thrombocytopenia. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The incidence of HIT is 0.3% in the vascular surgery population. The highest incidence is observed in thoraco-subclavian and vein reconstruction procedures. This study indicated that liver disease, endocarditis, chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, obesity, and female sex are associated with a higher incidence of HIT in this population. In vascular surgery patients, HIT can increase mortality by 3-fold and lead to severe complications such as acute renal failure, venous embolism, pulmonary embolism, and respiratory failure. CONCLUSION: The incidence of HIT in the vascular surgery population is similar to previously reported incidence in cardiac surgery patients. In the vascular surgery population, mortality increases 3-fold in patients with HIT versus those without any thrombocytopenia. Understanding the associated risk factors and complications will allow clinicians to make informed decisions and anticipate HIT and associated complications in certain high-risk populations.

CT and MR utilization and morbidity metrics across Body Mass Index.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a high-morbidity chronic condition and risk factor for multiple diseases that necessitate imaging. This study assesses the relationship between BMI and same-year utilization of CT and MR imaging in a large healthcare population. METHODS: In this retrospective population-based study, all patients aged ≥18 years with a documented BMI in the multi-institutional Cosmos database were included. Cohorts were identified based on ≥1 documented BMI in 2021 within pre-defined ranges. For each cohort, we assessed the percentage of patients undergoing head, neck, chest, spine, or abdomen/pelvis CT and MR during the same year. Disease severity was quantified based on emergency department (ED) visits and mortality. RESULTS: In our population of 49.6 million patients, same-year CT and MR utilization was 14.5 ±0.01% and 6.0±0.01%, respectively. The underweight cohort had the highest CT (25.8±0.1%) and MR (8.01 ± 0.05) imaging utilization. At high extremes of BMI (>50 kg/m2), CT utilization mildly increased (18.4±0.1%), but MR utilization decreased (5.3±0.04%). While morbidity differences may explain some BMI-utilization relationships, lower MR utilization in the BMI>50 cohort contrasts with higher age-adjusted mortality (1.8±0.03%) and ED utilization (32.4±0.1%) in this cohort relative to normal weight (1.5±0.01% and 25.7±0.02%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Underweight patients had disproportionately high CT/MR utilization, and high extremes of BMI are associated with mildly higher CT and lower MR utilization than the normal weight cohort. The elevated mortality and ED utilization in severely obese patients contrasts with their lower MR imaging utilization. Our findings may assist public health efforts to accommodate obesity trends.

Henry gas solubility optimization double machine learning classifier for neurosurgical patients.

This study aims to predict head trauma outcome for Neurosurgical patients in children, adults, and elderly people. As Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are helpful in healthcare field, a comparative study of various ML techniques is developed. Several algorithms are utilized such as k-nearest neighbor, Random Forest (RF), C4.5, Artificial Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Their performance is assessed using anonymous patients' data. Then, a proposed double classifier based on Henry Gas Solubility Optimization (HGSO) is developed with Aquila optimizer (AQO). It is implemented for feature selection to classify patients' outcome status into four states. Those are mortality, morbidity, improved, or the same. The double classifiers are evaluated via various performance metrics including recall, precision, F-measure, accuracy, and sensitivity. Another contribution of this research is the original use of hybrid technique based on RF-SVM and HGSO to predict patient outcome status with high accuracy. It determines outcome status relationship with age and mode of trauma. The algorithm is tested on more than 1000 anonymous patients' data taken from a Neurosurgical unit of Mansoura International Hospital, Egypt. Experimental results show that the proposed method has the highest accuracy of 99.2% (with population size = 30) compared with other classifiers.

Does the Type of Chronic Heart Failure Impact In-Hospital Outcomes for Aortic Valve Replacement Procedures?

BACKGROUND: This study assessed in-hospital outcomes of patients with chronic systolic, diastolic, or mixed heart failure (HF) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to identify patients with aortic stenosis and chronic HF who underwent TAVR or SAVR between 2012 and 2015. Propensity score matching and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine outcome risk. RESULTS: A cohort of 9,879 patients with systolic (27.2%), diastolic (52.2%), and mixed (20.6%) chronic HF were included. No statistically significant differences in hospital mortality were noted. Overall, patients with diastolic HF had the shortest hospital stays and lowest costs. Compared with patients with diastolic HF, the risk of acute myocardial infarction (TAVR odds ratio [OR], 1.95; 95% CI, 1.20-3.19; P = .008; SAVR OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 0.98-1.95; P = .067) and cardiogenic shock (TAVR OR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.43-3.23; P < .001; SAVR OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.42-2.53; P ≤ .001) was higher in patients with systolic HF, whereas the risk of permanent pacemaker implantation (TAVR OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.45-0.76; P < .001; SAVR OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.40-0.84; P = .004) was lower following aortic valve procedures. In TAVR, the risk of acute deep vein thrombosis and kidney injury was higher, although not statistically significant, in patients with systolic HF than in those with diastolic HF. CONCLUSION: These outcomes suggest that chronic HF types do not incur statistically significant hospital mortality risk in patients undergoing TAVR or SAVR.

Transaortic Placement of Percutaneous Mechanical Support Device via Partial Sternotomy: Feasible Option for Unsuitable Axillary Artery Access.

Acute decompensated refractory cardiogenic shock is an emergency in which the prompt instauration of mechanical circulatory support improves outcomes. The typical, initial approach for device delivery is via femoral vessels due to easy access and safety. If longer support is needed, the femoral access will severely impair the patient's mobility and can also limit the amount of support given as the new-generation devices are too large for direct arterial insertion. Upper-body arterial conduits (UBACs) are used for the delivery of larger, percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVADs). The Impella 5.5 (Abiomed, Danvers, MA, USA) is a pVAD that can be deployed through a UBAC by either axillary/subclavian access or a transaortic approach. The latter approach is typically used in cases of postcardiotomy shock, in which the ascending aorta is already exposed through a full sternotomy. However, in some cases, the axillary artery is not suitable due to size (<6 mm in diameter), and a smaller pVAD is delivered into the heart. To avoid providing suboptimal support, we present an alternative, minimally invasive approach in which the larger device is delivered through the ascending aorta. This article summarizes the details of this approach through a mini upper partial sternotomy and reviews the relevant technical considerations.

Efficacy of bone-substitute materials use in immediate dental implant placement: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of using a bone substitute material (BSM) in the fixture-socket gap in patients undergoing tooth extraction and immediate implant placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). RCTs were screened for eligibility, and data were extracted by two authors independently. Risk of bias (ROB) was assessed using Cochrane's ROB tool 2.0. Primary outcomes were implant failure, overall complications, and soft-tissue esthetics. Secondary outcomes were vertical buccal bone resorption, vertical interproximal bone resorption, horizontal buccal bone resorption, and mid-buccal mucosal recession. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects model with generic inverse variance weighing. GRADE was used to grade the certainty of the evidence. RESULTS: After screening 19 544 potentially eligible references, 20 RCTs were included in this review, with a total of 848 patients (916 sites). Most included RCTs were deemed of some concerns (53%) or at low (38%) risk of bias, except for overall complications (high ROB). Implant failure did not differ significantly RR = 0.92 (confidence intervals [CI] 0.34 to 2.46) between using a BSM compared with not using a BSM (NoBSM). BSM use resulted in less horizontal buccal bone resorption (MD = -0.52 mm [95% CI -0.74 to -0.30]), a higher esthetic score (MD = 1.49 [95% CI 0.46 to 2.53]), but also more complications (RR = 3.50 [95% CI 1.11 to 11.1] compared with NoBSM. Too few trials compared types of BSMs against each other to allow for pooled analyses. The certainty of the evidence was considered moderate for all outcomes except implant failure (low), overall complications (very low), and vertical interproximal bone resorption (very low). CONCLUSION: BSM use during immediate implant placement reduces horizontal buccal bone resorption and improves the periimplant soft-tissue esthetics. Although BSM use increases the risk of predominantly minor complications.

Anesthesiology Resident Performance on the US Medical Licensing Examination Predicts Success on the American Board of Anesthesiology BASIC Staged Examination: An Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Correlation has been found between the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 examination results and anesthesiology resident success on American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) examinations. In 2014, the ABA instituted the BASIC examination at the end of the postgraduate year-2 year. We hypothesized a similar predictive value of USMLE scores on BASIC examination success. METHODS: After the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at UTHealth Institutional Review Board approved and waived written consent, we retrospectively evaluated USMLE Step examination performance on first-time BASIC examination success in a single academic department from 2014-2018. RESULTS: Over 5 years, 120 residents took the ABA BASIC examination and 108 (90%) passed on the first attempt. Ten of 12 first-time failures were successful on repeat examination but analyzed in the failure group. Complete data was available for 92 residents (76.7%), with absent scores primarily reflecting osteopathic graduates who completed Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States level examinations rather than USMLE. In the failure cohort, all 3 USMLE examination step scores were lower (P < .02). USMLE Step 1 score independently predicted success on the BASIC examination (odds ratio [OR] 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.17, P < .001). Although USMLE Step 2 score predicted BASIC examination success (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.04-1.18, P = .001), this did not remain after adjustment for Step 1 score using multiple logistic regression (P = .11). In multivariable logistical regression, first clinical anesthesia in-training examination score and USMLE Step 1 score were significant for predictors of success on the BASIC exam. CONCLUSIONS: In anesthesiology residency training, our preliminary single-center data is the first to suggest that USMLE Step 1 performance could be used as a predictor of success on the recently introduced ABA BASIC Examination. These findings do not support recent action to change USMLE scoring to a pass/fail report.

Intraoperative Management of Carotid Endarterectomy in Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices-The Challenge of Continuous Flow: A Case Report.

Symptomatic carotid artery disease stenosis warrants open surgical carotid endarterectomy (CEA). However, patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) present unique challenges when vasopressors and volume are used to maintain cerebral perfusion pressure after carotid cross-clamping. This report describes patients with CF-LVADs who underwent CEA. We identify how preload, contractility, afterload, pump speed, mean arterial pressure, and anticoagulation should be addressed to maintain CF-LVAD outflow and cerebral perfusion during the procedure. Anesthesiologists can combine an understanding of continuous-flow physiology with invasive monitors to optimize cardiac output and cerebral blood flow during CEA procedures.